UH hires Malloe to coach defensive tackles

The Kamehameha product last worked on UTEP’s staff

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Kamehameha graduate Ikaika Malloe is returning to the islands to join the Hawaii football team’s coaching staff this season as first-year head coach Greg McMackin continues to assemble his roster of assistants.

BIG CHANCE

Malloe spent the last four seasons as an assistant at Texas-El Paso and will team with newly-hired Dave Aranda in coaching the Warriors defensive line, concentrating on the tackles in the 4-3 scheme.

After graduating from Kamehameha in 1992, Malloe played four seasons at Washington. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Huskies before moving on to full-time positions with Western Illinois and UTEP.

Although he’s spent most of his post-high school years on the mainland, Ikaika Malloe didn’t lose the pidgin inflection in his speech nor his affinity for Hawaii football.

"Sometimes I’d have a hard time staying up because UH plays so late our time," Malloe said. "But anytime we got to watch, we were cheering just like we were in the stands. No matter where we were, we were always representing Hawaii."

The Kamehameha graduate and former Washington standout will have a chance to represent the Warriors as a member of the UH coaching staff this season.

Malloe, 33, spent the past four years coaching the defensive line at UTEP and will team with fellow new-hire Dave Aranda in coaching the Warriors defensive front as part of head coach Greg McMackin’s first staff.

"Just to come back home, that’s a blessing, and obviously to try to maintain the winning ways (at UH), that’s another honor," Malloe said shortly after touching down in Honolulu last night. "I can’t explain in words just how happy I am to be home. It’s always been a dream of mine to come home and coach for my hometown."

After picking up his diploma from Kamehameha in 1992, Malloe’s post-high school path took him from Waimanalo to Seattle to Macomb, Ill., to El Paso before leading him back home.

Malloe walked on at Washington and eventually earned a starting job in the secondary. He was named the Huskies’ hardest hitter for three seasons, led the team in interceptions as a sophomore and won the program’s most inspirational player award.

After sticking around the program for a five-year stint as a student and graduate assistant, he got his first full-time coaching job at Western Illinois. In three years with the Leathernecks, he spent time as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator and supervising the strength and conditioning program for a year.

His term at UTEP under head coach Mike Price followed.

Through the years, Malloe maintained contact with UH assistant Cal Lee and jumped at the chance when a position opened on the Warriors staff.

"When the opportunity came about where they might have a defensive line opening, I told him I was very interested," Malloe said.

"I had a lot of help from (Price). Being that I’m from here, he knew that it was a dream of mine to one day come back and coach at home. He called Coach McMackin at least five or six times trying to get me an interview, trying to get me an opportunity to come home."

Malloe got into a couple of scrapes while coaching at Washington, one involving long-distance phone calls -- his portion of which he paid back in full -- and another dealing with his participation in an NCAA Tournament pool. He said those matters have been settled and he’s been able to grow from those experiences.

"It helped me build character and just understanding where I stand. I’m thankful for what I’ve got," he said. "They are old news but it’ll never leave me, that’s just part of life. The things that were bad at the time for me are good right now. Those are things that helped me become the man I am now."